


Long Live Our Memories

by ReyAndor19



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: But Gingerflower is the reason it happens, But it kinda backfired, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Funeral of sorts, Hurt/Comfort, Mostly Gen, Mostly plotless hurt/comfort, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, So it’s sort of not Gen?, The force is female, This was supposed to be Gingerflower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22421854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyAndor19/pseuds/ReyAndor19
Summary: Rose. Jannah. Rey. Kaydel. All have lost something in the war. All have tried to find a way to deal with the loss. All will find each other.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Long Live Our Memories

Rose looked over her shoulder one last time before slipping out the door. Inside the Resistance base, her fellow soldiers celebrated the defeat of the First Order. But Rose knew she couldn’t celebrate now of all days. Armitage Hux, the man she had once hated, was dead. Her sister Paige had taught her to despise the First Order, and anyone who supported it. But that was before she had met Finn, a former stormtrooper. Before she had realized that sometimes, people in the First Order weren’t that bad. Before she had been sent on the mission after Crait, to steal a few files from a First Order ship. Before she had met Hux. Of course she had met him on the  Supremacy.  But the second time was different. She had practically run into him as she turned a corner, and they had stood with their blasters raised for what seemed like decades. Finally, he had let her go. Rose had been stunned. Why had an enemy just let her escape? He had seen the stolen files she was holding, so why hadn’t he at least taken them back? They had met many more times after that, slowly becoming friends. And then more. When Finn and Poe had revealed that he was a spy, secretly providing much-needed information about the First Order, she had been elated. Until she learned that he was caught. Killed by one of the other generals or something. It didn’t really matter how he died. Either way, he was gone. So tonight, Rose promised, she wouldn’t rejoice. She wouldn’t celebrate. She would mourn and remember not just Hux but everyone she knew who had been lost to the war. In the forest surrounding the base, Rose built a fire for warmth and light. She set out her few items that had belonged to those lost at war. A stuffed tauntaun Paige had loved as a child. A scrap of Hux’s uniform. The small pile of objects littered the ground in front of her. The fire seemed to leap higher each time she placed one down. There were only two items in all, but each one carried a powerful meaning to her. 

“Rose?” A voice asked. “Is that you?”

She turned. Lieutenant Connix stood behind her, holding a small lantern.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she said. “Are we supposed to stay at the base tonight? I can head back if that’s what-“

“No, it’s fine,” Connix replied quickly. “We don’t have to stay inside. I think. I mean I don’t know if we’re allowed to be out here tonight either. Wait, what are you doing out here at night anyway?”

“What are you doing out here?” Rose asked, deflecting the question. They waited for the other to respond. Finally, Connix sighed.

“It just felt wrong,” she admitted. “Everyone’s celebrating, but we lost  so _much_. ”

“Both sides did,” Rose agreed. “The Resistance  _ and  _ the First Order.”

“I know. But everyone decides to use this as a time to party. Don’t they understand?”

“So what are  _ you  _ doing? Not everyone else.”

“I... My friend Tallie Lintra was a pilot. She was absolutely  _ amazing  _ when she flew. I watched her escape five enemy TIEs once! But...she didn’t make it. Remember when the X-wing hangar was bombed? When we were running out of fuel?”

Rose nodded respectfully. She remembered that fight too well.

“Tallie was in her X-wing when the hangar exploded. We were talking over the coms, I was telling her to be careful, she was brushing it off, saying she was  _ always  _ careful. It was our tradition. We were wishing each other good luck...and then there was just static. And more static. And then silence. And they’re in there  _celebrating_.  And I know she was a hero, and she died doing what she believed was right. But why do people have to be happy about it right now?”

“I get it,” Rose said. “And people will tell you that a lot. But I do. I had a twin sister Paige. She was in one of the bombers when it exploded. That’s why I’m here too. So feel free to join me Lieutenant Connix.”

“Kaydel,” she corrected, sitting beside Rose. “Call me Kaydel.”

“Do you have something of Tallie’s? I don’t know if you wanted to add it to the pile too...you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine. Actually I do have something.” She pulled out a miniature A-wing model and placed it next to Rose’s scrap of fabric. ”Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but who did you lose?”

“That’s not rude. You told me, I’ll tell you. The tauntaun is from my sister Paige. She loved every animal in the galaxy, even the creepy ones. They were all her equals. But she always loved hearing stories from our neighbor, and old rebel. He would tell her about all the creatures he met on his journeys. Her favorite story was about the tauntauns the rebels had to ride on Hoth.”

“And the fabric?”

Rose took a deep breath. As she opened her mouth to explain, Kaydel suddenly stood up, squinting into the darkness. 

“Who’s there?” 

“A friend,” someone answered quickly. 

“How do we know?’ Kaydel shot back.

“Wait, it’s me.” A figure stepped into the patch of light the fire provided. 

“Oh, Rey!” Rose exclaimed. “What are you doing up late?”

“I could ask the same of you,” she said with a shrug. 

“You first,” Kaydel said.

“Fine with me. I just needed some time alone to...um think. The war’s over. We should be happy, right? But everywhere I go, there’s loss. Parents and siblings and friends and so many people died in the war. I can’t celebrate. And I know that makes me weird, but-“

“It’s not weird,” Kaydel interrupted with a laugh. “That’s exactly what Rose and I were doing!” 

“Oh,” she said looking surprised. “Well, I guess I should go.”

“Wait,” Rose said, “come sit with us. Please.”

Rey hesitantly sat next to Kaydel, watching the fire flicker and dance. 

“So what’s your story?” Kaydel asked.

“My story?”

“Yeah. Rose lost Paige. I lost Tallie. You?”

“Ben,” she said. “A friend.”

“Oh,” Rose said, remembering the story Finn and Poe had told her. “I heard about that.”

There was a brief pause, before Kaydel spoke again.

“So Rose, you never told us who the cloth belonged to.”

“Oh yeah,” she started nervously. “Well, it belonged to Armitage Hux. General Hux.”

“You were related?” Kaydel cried, staring at her.

“I think Rose means to say she loved him,” Rey interrupted with a laugh. 

“We are  _ not  _ related,” Rose said, smiling a little. “Not even distantly.”

They all laughed despite the cloud of sadness hanging over them. 

“So how did that even happen?” Kaydel asked finally.

“I don’t know. Sometimes I guess they just do.”

“It’s not as crazy as it sounds,” Rey agreed. “So seriously, stop looking like you just ate a lemon.”

“I do not look like that!” She protested, forcing herself to smile. “See? I’m happy!”

Once they stopped laughing at Kaydel’s attempt to grin, Rose noticed Rey hadn’t added anything to their small pile.

“Rey, do you have an object that belonged to your friend?’’

“Yeah. Why?” 

“It’s optional, but you can add it to the little collection. As sort of a memorial. If you wanted to. Sorry, does that sound weird. This is my first time doing, you know,  _this_ The whole funeral-memory thing.”

“No, it’s fine. This is actually kind of fun.” She pulled out a red crystal and carefully positioned it next to the stuffed tauntaun. “So how did you two end up here anyway?”

“In the Resistance?”

“No, the fire. Sorry.”

“Rose started it,” Kaydel explained. “And then I saw the light and headed towards it. We traded stories, and now we’re here.”

“Hello?” A voice called, but it wasn’t Rey or Kaydel. 

“Hi!” Rose yelled. 

“Who’s that?”

“Rose Tico! Oh, and Kaydel and Rey! Who are you?”

They heard the sound of someone running towards them. Kaydel held up the lamp as Jannah came into view.

“Hey Jannah,” Rose greeted. “What’re you doing?” 

“Nothing. You?”

“We’re performing an ancient ritual to call the spirits of the ancient porgs,” Kaydel said. Jannah stared at her. 

“Not really,” Rey clarified, trying to keep a straight face. “So what are you actually doing Jannah?”

“Well I’m not talking to any porgs, that’s for sure.”

“Jannah,” Rose said, her tone indicating she wanted a response.

“Fine, I’ll tell. A lot of the stormtroopers in my division didn’t make it. So, I thought, instead of celebrating the fact that they died-“

“You decided to mourn?” Rose finished for her. 

“Yeah, basically. Wait, how did you guess?”

“That’s basically what we’re doing,” she explained. 

“So who’d you lose?” Rey asked.

“I told you, a lot of my division didn’t make it.”

“There’s always one that hurts more than the rest,” Kaydel said.

“She’s right.” I lost my sister Paige and my...good friend Hux. Kaydel lost Tallie, who was practically her sister. Rey lost her...also good friend Ben.” Rose pointed to each item as she said the names. 

Jannah nodded. “I did have someone close to me who was lost. But I don’t really have anything special of his.”

“It’s fine,” Kaydel said. “Do you have a picture of him, or maybe a letter he wrote? It doesn’t have to be something important, as long as it belonged to him.”

“I do have something. But it’s kind of silly.”

“Jannah, nothing’s silly here,” Rey reassured her. 

“Okay,” she said, pulling something out of her pocket. “It’s a comlink. There was a boy in my division when I was young. He was eleven. I was...maybe seven or eight. He was like our older brother. He took care of everyone. And eventually, it cost him his life. One of the youngest recruits was injured. There was a bomb, they couldn’t get away before it went off. So the two of us, him and I, went to rescue them. We carried the recruit back. We were almost there. But he got shot. I carried the recruit the rest of the way. Told everyone what happened.”

“That’s terrible!” Rose cried. She’d heard that most stormtroopers kept to themselves. A boy like that would have been one in a million. She couldn’t imagine having to watch h someone that close to her die- she had only heard that Paige and Hux had died, but physically being there?

“It was years ago.” Jannah seemed determined not to get emotional. 

“At least join us,” Rey offered. “We all need some company right now, don’t you think?”

Kaydel and Rose nodded their assent. Jannah sighed and sat down across from everyone. Rose and Kaydel immediately moved to create a circle around the fire. They sat in a ring, remembering those they had lost, but also hopeful. Rose missed her loved ones so much it hurt, but so did the girls around her. 

“It’s funny,” Jannah said after a while to no one in particular. “When I left the base, I felt terrible for being here and being alive while so many are gone. I hated that people were celebrating and feeling happy. All I could think about was the friends and family I’ve lost. Now it’s different. They’re still gone, and it still hurts. But now...”

“We’re not alone,” Rey said, offering Jannah a hand.

“And we’ll never forget this night, or the friends and family members that gave their lives for us to be here,” Kaydel added, taking Jannah’s other hand in her own. They linked hands, Rose taking Kaydel and Rey’s as the gesture spread throughout the group.

“Long live our memories,” Rose said, looking around at the odd assembly of people. They had all started the night alone, but now they sat together in the glow of the fire. “ _ And  _ our friendship.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and may the force be with you!


End file.
